Army agent on vacation in French Quarter shot by state trooper, attorney says

In this Jan. 18, 2015 photo, people walk past a sign encouraging people to walk in large groups, in the French Quarter of New Orleans. A spike in violent crime in the French Quarter is unsettling residents and comes just as New Orleans prepares to host crowds of tourists for Mardi Gras. Gerald HerbertAP

In this Jan. 18, 2015 photo, people walk past a sign encouraging people to walk in large groups, in the French Quarter of New Orleans. A spike in violent crime in the French Quarter is unsettling residents and comes just as New Orleans prepares to host crowds of tourists for Mardi Gras. Gerald HerbertAP

New Orleans, La.

An attorney for a man who was shot by a state trooper early Sunday said her client was a civilian agent with the U.S. Army who was visiting New Orleans, and that he pulled out his gun after feeling threatened by a group of juveniles who were following him.

Meanwhile, the Army’s Criminal Investigation Command, or “CID,” on Tuesday confirmed that it was investigating after one of its civilian special agents had apparently been shot by a state trooper while the agent was on vacation in the city. The agent is “suspended from all law enforcement duties pending the outcome of the investigation,” said a statement from Chis Grey, the CID public affairs chief.

A State Police spokeswoman declined to comment on the version of events offered by the agent’s lawyer, Elizabeth Carpenter, saying the probe into the shooting in the 800 block of Port of New Orleans Place remained ongoing.

According to Carpenter, her client and his wife had traveled from Kentucky to New Orleans to board a cruise. The couple went to the French Quarter on Saturday night, but the woman went back to their Loyola Avenue hotel while her husband stayed out longer exploring the city.

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Carpenter said her client had not been drinking for several hours before the incident and was headed back to the hotel when he got lost and noticed “some young kids following (him) trying to intimidate (him).” Eventually, he decided to turn around and pull out a pistol he had in an ankle holster in an effort to frighten them off, Carpenter said.

That’s when, with no warning, her client was shot in the stomach and the knee, Carpenter said. He ended up at University Medical Center, and his wife received a phone call at the hotel informing her that her husband had been shot.

State Police have said little about the shooting, which took place around 3 a.m. on Sunday.

Too young to legally enter the club, an 18-year-old musician found a way to sit in on a jazz session at The Starlight in New Orleans' French Quarter. The band's singer was away at a competition, and the piano player invited the Loyola student.